


i still don't have a title for this lmao

by katrinawritesthings



Category: SHINee
Genre: Brotp, Fantasy, NB, Nonbinary, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-10-20 18:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10668204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katrinawritesthings/pseuds/katrinawritesthings
Summary: merperson au,,,“Sea?” the human asks. Jonghyun rolls sear eyes.“Yeah. Sea. Me. I am the sea. We all are. We hear the sea, we breathe the sea, we live the sea…?” This is like, straight out of the egg knowledge. Sea can’t believe that this Taemin doesn’t know this.tumblr





	i still don't have a title for this lmao

“Ow-- ** _hey_** \--” Jonghyun grabs sear urchin sword from where sea left it on the bottom of this wretched tide pool and thrusts it aggressively into the hole where a sneaky little crab claw darts out of view. Sea doesn’t feel it pierce a beady little eye, or even clatter uselessly against a red shell, but sea does hear smug clicking sounds as the crab taunts him from its hiding spot. Sea snarls at the hole instead as sea stabs it a few more times in vain. “Fuck off, you pinchy assole,” sea snaps at it when sea throws sear sword back under the water. “It’s not my fault your friend was worse at hide-and-seek than you.” Sea could have just as easily wasted far too long in here trying to catch some breakfast and wound up with ** _this_** bitter little crab on the end of sear sword instead of the other one. “It’s the fucking food chain. Get over it.” **  
**

Sea swims to the other side of the pool--which is **_barely_** a more than than a body length away-- and huffs as sea twists to find the spot on sear dorsal fin where the crab pinched sear. Sea’s not bleeding; that doesn’t exactly comfort sear. Spiteful little shit. Sea’s gonna have to deal with it for another few hours at least until the tide comes back in.

**_“Ugh.”_** Sea groans again, clenching both sear fists and sear sharp teeth. Sea can’t fucking believe seaself. Sea can’t believe that sea managed to get seaself stuck in a tide pool over a crab. A crab that sea is now talking to as if it’s actually capable of speech, because sea’s been in this pool for at least three hours already and there’s no one else to actually talk to. Sea never should have come in here in the first place. Sea pushes off of the wall to continue sear tight, awkward, uncomfortable laps around the pool again so sea’ll at least have something to keep sear occupied. It probably won’t even matter soon. Soon a seagull will inevitably spot sear flashy brown orange and yellow coloring, and then sea’ll be eaten, and that’ll be the food chain and sea’ll just have to fucking get over--

“Whoa, bruh.”

_“Fuck.”_ Jonghyun bangs sear elbow on a stray piece of rock jutting out from the side of the tide pool as sea whips around to find a human staring down at sear. A _human._ This is just fucking great. how did it even get all the way over to thee tide pools? The usual human area of the beach is at least a mile away. There’s nowhere for sea to hide and sea doesn’t even take a second to glance around to check, instead diving underwater to grab sear urchin sword again. From there, sea peeks just enough up over the water so sea can bare sear sharp teeth and hiss.

“Oh--hey, no, don’t be scared,” the human coos, crouching down next to Jonghyun’s pool so its head goes from kind of big to really fucking huge. Holy shit. Do humans even _understand_ how freakishly large they are? Jonghyun’s sure that if they did they wouldn’t be poking their giant faces into everything. Sea scoffs. Sea’s not _scared._ Sea’s angry and frustrated and annoyed because sea would literally rather be eaten by a seagull than deal with this bullshit. “You know, you’re really pretty,” the human tells sear. It scoots even closer; Jonghyun considers telling it that it has some goop in the corner of its eye and it’s really gross. Instead, sea just glares harder, grip tightening on his sword just in case it tries to touch him.

“Um,” the human says. “I’m Taemin. You can… speak, right? Or, you can understand what I’m saying?”

Of course Jonghyun can. You don’t spend your entire life in the ocean, hearing everything that bubbles through the waves, and not pick up on a few human languages. Jonghyun stays silent, though, in the hopes that this human will go away. As it keeps talking anyway--without even knowing if Jonghyun can understand it or not, fucking incredible--Jonghyun looks up at its purple and white hair. There’s no way that that is natural. What a faker. Sea looks back down to its face after a few seconds to find that its still just talking at sear.

“...last time I was here was like, eight years ago on a second grade field trip, but, I guess I wasn’t paying attention when they told us about mermaids. Or--mermen? Mer... sirs. Mer--sorry, I can’t tell--”

_“OW_ \--come back here, you fucking piece of shit!” Jonghyun whips away from the human, not even caring about blowing sear whole silent act anymore. Sea’s going to fucking murder this crab. Sea doesn’t even want to eat it. Sea just wants it _dead_ \--but as sea stabs viciously into the hole it fucked off into, sea hears it clicking it’s ugly little claws again in victory. Sea snarls at it and chucks sear sword uselessly at the wall. Ugh.

“Um--are you okay?” The human--Taemin, it said its name was?--shifts even closer than before, worry etched in its features when Jonghyun turns around to look. Jonghyun huffs. Sea never should have come over here. Now sea’s pissed, probably bleeding, sore from swimming in circles for hours, and has blown sear cover with a human.

“Sea,” sea snaps, folding sear arms as sea floats to the center of the tide pool where at least the crab will have to show its face to snap at sear. Taemin looks confused.

“Sea?” it asks. Jonghyun rolls sear eyes.

“Yeah. Sea. Me. I am the sea. We all are. We hear the sea, we breathe the sea, we live the sea…?” This is like, straight out of the egg knowledge. Sea can’t believe that this _Taemin_ doesn’t know this. It must have not been properly taken care of when it hatched.

Uh… huh,” Taemin says slowly. “Are you... um… a boy? Sea? Or, a girl s--”

“I don’t understand your weird human binaries,” Jonghyun says flatly. “Isn’t it not even actually a binary for humans either?” Sea isn’t too well-versed on human anatomy, but sea’s experienced more human genitals than sea’s ever wanted to through the ocean and sea knows for a fact that there are more than two. And sea can’t even begin to get what the whole gender thing is about. Humans are so fucking weird. “Who misinformed all of you so badly?” sea asks. Taemin blinks at sear for a moment, then shrugs in a helpless sort of way.

“I mean--well--what pronouns do you use, at least?” Taemin asks. “Or, what’s your name? So I can tell people about you.” It offers Jonghyun a little smile, like it expects sear to answer another two questions when it hasn’t even answered Jonghyun’s first.

“I already told you,” sea says. “Sea.”

“Your… name is Sea?” Taemin asks, confused. Jonghyun rolls sear eyes so hard they almost hurt.

“No,” sea says.

“...Oh,” Taemin says. It almost says something else, then hesitates; Jonghyun wonders if it was going to ask for Jonghyun’s name again. Jonghyun isn’t going to tell it. “Well… my pronouns are ‘he’ and ‘him’ and ‘his.’ And ‘himself.’ In case you. Didn’t know those. I’m a boy.”

“Cool,” Jonghyun says. Sea has no idea why that should hold any relevance to sear. Sea guesses that sea’ll have to stop referring to this human with ‘it’ pronouns, though. That is one thing. Sea wonders if that’s a custom that humans have: awkwardly trying to figure out what to call each other when not using names. It seems like an awful lot of extra work. “I’ll be sure to remember that for when I never think about you again.”

“You know, you’re not exactly what I was imagining a mer--a sea--to be like,” Taemin says. He props his chin up in his hand with a pout. An actual, real life pout. He’s pouting at Jonghyun because Jonghyun isn’t some fake human bedtime story fairytale creature. In-fucking-credible. Sea feels anger bubbling inside of sear, but then, just as quickly as it comes, it fades away. Sea sighs, feeling all of sear frustration from the passed few hours ebb out of sear and into the water. What a shame. If sea hadn’t wasted all of sear energy on that asshole crab, sea would have gone off on this human. Now sea just wants to be left alone to wallow in self-pity.

“Can you just go away?” sea asks. Sea rolls onto sear back, closes sear eyes, sinks down low to almost the bottom of the pool, and lets the water rock sear gently in place. Maybe sea’ll take a nap, if the crab will let him. Another hour or two will see the tide coming back up to let sear out. Then sea can go back home and never have crab again for the rest of sear life.

Sea’s so tired. Sea never knew how exhausting defeat could fee. This sucks.

“Are you… stuck?”

Jonghyun cracks open an eye, annoyed, to find the human still there, just… looking at sear. What the fuck.

“I asked you to leave,” Sea grumbles. Sea fixes seaself back up straight so Taemin will be able to understand sear above water. “Do humans not learn manners?” Sea frowns sear best frown Taemin opens his mouth only to close it again, looking offended. If he’s going to say anything about how Jonghyun is being less than friendly right now, Jonghyun is going to… splash him. Or something. Sea thinks that inconveniences humans sometimes. They come to the beach to swim in the ocean but get mad when they get splashed. It’s fucking weird, just like everything else about them. Jonghyun is totally going to splash him if he tries to say anything about Jonghyun’s attitude. That’s the point.

The silence stretches on between them, Taemin’s arms crossed, Jonghyun’s lifting to mirror them, as they frown stubbornly at each other. Jonghyun feels like expecting an answer out of Taemin like this kind of defeats the purpose of trying to get him to go away, but whatever. Sea’s already started. Sea can’t just stop now. Waves wash over the distant rocks, seagulls flap overhead, the crab scuttles around the tunnels behind Jonghyun, and Taemin’s purple hair flutters in the wind. Finally, the human opens his mouth again.

“You’re stuck,” he says flatly.

Jonghyun splashes him.

Not on purpose, but because sea threw sear hands in the air in frustration and then let them slap back down against the water.

_“Yes,_ I am fucking stuck,” sea hisses. “I chased a crab in here and then spent too long trying to get it out to eat it and the tide pulled away and the crab didn’t even taste good and now its asshole friend is trying to pinch me to death and I’m sore and tired and _humiliated_ because I keep getting outsmarted by a fucking crustacean and now I have to deal with you and I just want to go _home_.” Sear voice breaks at that last word; Taemin’s face suddenly takes on pity, eyebrows knitting together in concern. Jonghyun groans at seaself, trying to fight the burn behind sear eyes and swallow the lump in sear throat. All of that, and now sea’s almost angry crying and Taemin thinks they’re tears of despair or some bullshit.

“Hey, don’t….” Taemin trails off, lifting a hand to rest it on the edge of the tide pool. If he tries to come any closer with it Jonghyun is going to stab the fuck out of it. “Can I… do you… want me to carry you?” He offers both hands, palms up, fingertips just dipping into the water. Jonghyun scoffs at him. Sea doesn’t need to be carried and tossed back into the ocean. And sea’s not even sure that Taemin _would_ carry sear to the ocean. He’s already ignored Jonghyun’s request to go away. Does he expect Jonghyun to trust him?

“Why?” sea asks, suspicious, scooting more towards the back of the pool. “So you can sell me to one of your human aquariums?” Sea’s heard about those. Fish jails. Sea isn’t even a fish. Sea knows that there’s one right up in the city that this human could easily steal him away to. Sea won’t be tricked. Sinking even more into the water (but still wary of the crab), Jonghyun glares at Taemin with just sear eyes over the surface. Instead of frowning, or trying to defend his honor, Taemin laughs. His lips spread wide and his head falls back between his shoulders for a moment as he laughs at the sky. Watching this, Jonghyun frowns hard enough for the both of them. This doesn’t seem even remotely close to funny to sear.

“Friend,” he says--Jonghyun isn’t his friend--”I haven’t been here in eight years. I don’t even know where the aquarium is.” He curls his legs up to his chest, crosses his arms on top of them, and rests his chin on top of those, still smiling lazily at Jonghyun. “Also, it would be pretty hard… and.. illegal, I think... to smuggle a merm--a sea, sorry--passed beach security. And aquariums make me sad, anyway. They’re like… fish jails.” He makes a quick face before the easy smile comes back onto his lips. Jonghyun squints at him. Hmm. They seem to share similar sentiments towards the fish jails. Still, though. Jonghyun would much rather wait another….

Sea turns just enough so that he can squint at the sun above them. Once he finds it, sea groans. Holy fucking shit. It’ll be another three hours, at least, until high tide.

“Come on,” Taemin says. “It’s like… fifteen feet. It won’t even be a minute.”

Not even a minute, Taemin says. That is certainly faster than three hours. Jonghyun just watches him for a moment, pursing sear lips as sea thinks. Sea doesn’t want to, but if sea’s being honest with seaself, sea really does just want to go home more than anything right now and Taemin seems to be the fastest way there. Sea still spends so long thinking that Taemin straightens up, unfolds his arms, and stretches out his legs.

“Okay, then,” he sighs. “I’ll leave you alone.” He stands up, wipes off his obnoxiously yellow swimming shorts, and takes one turning step away before Jonghyun spurs seaself into speaking.

“Wait,” sea calls loudly. Taemin turns back with a questioning noise; Jonghyun bubbles grumpily half under the water for another few seconds before making seaself speak again. “Please,” sea says, as evenly as sea can, “carry me to the ocean.” Sea winces after sea says it. Sea still isn’t entirely sure that this is a good idea. It’s going to come back and bite sea on the tail, sea knows it, all just because sea wanted to take the easy way home. Taemin crouches back down almost immediately.

“Okay,” he says. He lowers his hands back into the tide pool almost gently enough to mask his excitement. Jonghyun takes a moment to take a deep breath and make a wish before sea swims forward into the cup of Taemin’s hands. They’re soft; much softer than Jonghyun was expecting for the average human. He lifts Jonghyun up slowly, carefully, and almost has sear out of the water before Jonghyun remembers.

“Wait--” sea says again, darting back into the water and the bottom of the pool to grab sear sword. Sea flits back into Taemin’s hands before Taemin can even register sear request. “Okay,” sea says. “Now you can.” Sea taps Taemin’s thumb almost gently with the side of sear sword, as both permission to lift sear up and a reminder that sea won’t hesitate to stab the fuck out of him if he tries anything funny. Sea wonders if Taemin knows that sea urchins are poisonous. Sea’ll tell him if sea stabs him.

“Okay, up we go,” Taemin says softly as he lifts Jonghyun fully out of the pool. He fits one hand under the curve of Jonghyun’s tail and the other behind sear back, cradling sear to his own large chest. Jonghyun peeps at the ground as Taemin stands up on his weird, skinny human legs, and then quickly curls more into seaself and closes sear eyes. Sea’s so fucking high up. There’s no water around sear to comfort sear, or under sear to catch sear if sea falls. This is fucking terrifying. Sea grips sear sword tightly, more for comfort than anything else. This was a bad idea. This was such a bad idea. Walking is so _weird_ \--Taemin’s weight shifts with his legs, his footsteps are a jolt every time he touches the ground--Jonghyun doesn’t like this. Sea doesn’t like this at all. Sea doesn’t want--

The sweet, cool, familiar sensation of fresh, moving, shifting ocean water envelops sear all at once as Taemin lowers him into the ocean unexpectedly quickly. Jonghyun almost drops sear sword at the relief. Sea dives completely underwater immediately, relishing, cherishing, loving the feeling. All of the memories and experiences sea missed while cut off in that stagnant tide pool comes back to sear and sea smiles for the first time in what feels like years when sea senses all of the worry from sear friends, and now the relief that sear reappearance has brought them. Sea’s okay. Sea’s back. Sea’s home. Sea does a few twirls and loops in the water before sea realizes that Taemin is still there, watching sear with fascination. Sea pops back up above the surface for what sea hopes is the last time in a while.

“Thank you,” sea says gratefully. Sea doesn’t even have it in sear to keep being wary right now. Taemin smiles a small smile and shrugs his shoulders.

“No problem,” he replies. “And, um,” he mumbles, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m going to be around here, all summer.” All summer. Jonghyun thinks summer is when the amount of humans on the beach almost triples. Sea thought that wasn’t for another few weeks, at least. “So, uh,” Taemin continues, “if I come back here, again… would you be less grumpy and want to talk a little bit?” A hopeful smile pulls up his lips as Jonghyun’s relieved smile falls. Sea doesn’t want to be anywhere near here for another five years, to be honest. And definitely not if summer is coming around soon.

“No,” sea says. Sea doesn’t really have an interest in talking to humans that don’t go away when they’re asked. Or, humans in general, but especially those kind. This time, it’s Taemin’s smile that falters.

“Oh,” he says. “Um, okay. Nice meeting you.” His lips twitch up just barely as he stands up again. He waves at Jonghyun with one soft hand, turning to leave for a second time in five minutes. And, for the second time in five minutes, Jonghyun argues with seaself just long enough for sear to call Taemin’s attention back with one word:

“Maybe.”

The hopeful smile breaks open Taemin’s face again as he glances back at Jonghyun; Jonghyun locks eyes with him for just one moment before he dives underwater and swims away back to sear home in the reef. Maybe. Maybe, if sea senses Taemin in the water, and wants to let him see sear again, then maybe sea’ll go and find him and ask him to explain the bullshit that the gender binary is. Maybe.


End file.
